If you need elective credits for school and don’t know what to take, Santa Monica College is offering classes here at Venice High School. The college is offering Media 2, Media 20, and Graphic Design 64. The Media classes take place during sixth period and Graphic Design 64 takes place after school.

Media 2 teaches media literacy skills. The course will acquaint students with electronic and print media texts from sources such as television, radio, film, podcasting, websites and video games. Students will gain the necessary skills to understand their multi-media world and its many layers of meanings and messages.

Media 20 is a great class to take if you want to learn filmmaking skills and story formats. This course offers basic training and practical experience in writing, producing, shooting, music selection, and directing voice-over talent for short-form media projects.

Graphic Design 64 is a very hands-on class. Although Venice has a graphic design class, this graphic design class offered by Santa Monica College offers college credits as well as visual art credits.

These classes offer many benefits. Each semester gives students 10 high school credits and 3 units of college credit. Therefore, you get 10 extra high school credits when you take a year of the media class. These classes also count for A-G requirements. Media 20 and Graphic Design fulfills the requirement for fine arts. The other media class fulfills the academic elective requirement (G). These classes are completely free. Students save up to $200 on the cost of the class at SMC and textbooks.

To enroll in these classes, you are required to sign up as an SMC student. After you enroll as a student, you need to contact your counselor for a form to enter the class you choose to take. You can also find the form online on SMC’s website, which is SMC.edu.

For more information, contact Maria Leon-Vasquez. Leon-Vasquez is a program manager for Santa Monica College.

“These classes look better on your transcripts and applications to 4-year colleges than an AP class.” said Leon-Vasquez. Her e-mail address is [email protected] and telephone number is (310) 434-3306.